Articles by
Jonathan Parnell

Holy Monday. It may have felt like the proverbial Monday morning in the modern Western world — a time to reengage the grind and get back to work. Jesus, indeed, walked into Jerusalem to take care of business.
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The color was porpoise gray — that’s “porpoise” like the dolphin. Porpoise gray. That’s the color my wife chose to paint the little sunroom at our house a few years ago. She loves it when I take on house projects…

You will face adversity — it’s only a matter of time. In fact, chances are, you’ve already experienced hardship. The question then, and going forward, is how you persevere through the oppressing moments of life?

I nudged the door open with my shoulder, hands holding carryout (again). I made my way through the dark living room and set dinner on the table. I could hear the kids playing in the basement as I peeked into…

We see this in Acts 1 — in the in-between story of Jesus telling his disciples the Spirit will come (Acts 1:8) and the Spirit actually coming (Acts 2:1–4). Pentecost is when things really get going, right? So what is the point with this preliminary stuff?
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Dressed warm enough to go outside, I ease down to my basement study and turn on the desk lamp. It flickers once or twice before its dusty yellow light focuses on the Bible laid open beneath it. The table had been set; my soul had been starving, and now, I made it on time.
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John Knox turns 500 this year. Actually, historians are not certain whether it was 1514 or 1515, but sometime around there, in the little market town of Haddington, Scotland, down the street from Saint Mary’s Church, Knox was born.
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Preaching matters because words matter. This is the way God has hardwired humans. Just as he has eternally communicated in his triune fellowship, he has created us as communicative beings...
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We tend to fret. It is a fact about creatures that we are derivative beings who can’t ultimately control the world around us. We have questions about whether we should do this or that, and about what might happen if we do this or that, which quickly turns into...
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Every Christian wants a deeper life of prayer in this new year. Who, after the close of one year, looks back over the time in his closet and thinks, “Yeah, I’d better cut back on all the praying this next twelve months”? We all want to grow, to enjoy richer fellowship with God.
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On page 511 of my ESV Bible, crafted by the careful penmanship of a novice writer, nestled in the inside margin of Psalm 116:12–13 and Psalm 118:6–7, are three words: “I love Dad.” ...
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When we see that the church is not a mere footnote in history, we won’t be able to quarantine her off as an extracurricular activity in our lives. She is really important. There’s even a whole story to prove the point.
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The local church is the greatest, most profound collective of which any human could be a part. Your family, your career, your nationality — these all pale in comparison to what it means to be a member of a local church...
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Unless you’re into the Irish bluesy, indie rock scene, chances are it’s only been in recent months that you’ve heard Hozier’s “Take Me to Church.” The song, the lead track on Hozier’s self-titled album released in September, is thick with metaphor...
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